Substrate holding device, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

ABSTRACT

A substrate holding device is equipped with a substrate holder that adsorbs and holds a substrate, and a plurality of vertical movement pin units that each have, at one end, an adsorption section to adsorb a rear surface of the substrate, and are movable relative to the substrate holder in a state of adsorbing the rear surface of the substrate with the adsorption section. The plurality of vertical movement pin units each have at least part including the adsorption section that is displaced in at least one direction, by an action of a force received from the adsorbed substrate.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to substrate holding devices, exposureapparatuses and device manufacturing methods, and more particularly to asubstrate holding device that holds a tabular substrate, an exposureapparatus equipped with the substrate holding device as a holding deviceof a substrate to be exposed, and a device manufacturing method thatuses the exposure apparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, for example, in a lithography process for manufacturingsemiconductor devices, projection exposure apparatuses of asequential-movement-type, such as a reduction projection exposureapparatus of a step-and-repeat method (a so-called stepper) or ascanning-type projection exposure apparatus of a step-and-scan method (aso-called scanning stepper (which is also called a scanner)), are mainlyused.

In the projection exposure apparatuses of this type, a wafer stage thatis movable within a two-dimensional plane is provided, and a wafer isheld by vacuum adsorption or electrostatic adsorption or the like, by awafer holder fixed on the wafer stage.

While various types of the wafer holders are available, wafer holders bya pin chuck method are relatively frequently used. Further, on the waferstage, three vertical movement pins (also referred to as center-ups orlift pins) for delivering a wafer onto the wafer holder are provided(e.g., see PTL 1). The vertical movement pins vertically move via anopening formed at the wafer holder, and receive a wafer from a carrierarm above the wafer holder and deliver the wafer onto the wafer holderby moving downward in a state of adsorbing and holding the wafer.

However, with increasing the integration degree of semiconductor devicesand the size of wafers, it has come to be found that distortion thatcannot be ignored occurs in the center portion of a wafer that isdelivered from the vertical movement pins to the wafer holder.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

[PTL 1] U.S. Pat. No. 6,624,433

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Solution to Problem

The cause that the distortion remains in the wafer center portion asdescribed above was thought as follows. That is, after withdrawal of thecarrier arm, the outer peripheral edge portion of the wafer that issupported by the vertical movement pins hangs downward, and when vacuumsuction of the wafer is performed by the wafer holder along with thedownward movement of the vertical movement pins, the adsorption isstarted from the peripheral portion of the wafer and is graduallydirected toward the center, and as a result, the distortion remains thecenter portion of the wafer after the adsorption.

However, as a result of the experiments and the like performedthereafter, it has been found that even if the suction by the waferholder is first started from the center portion of the wafer, thedistortion still remains in the wafer center portion. Therefore, afterfurther considerations, the inventor has arrived at the presentinvention that contributes to solving the problem that the distortion ofthe center portion of the wafer occurs.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda substrate holding device that holds a substrate, the devicecomprising: a substrate holding section on which the substrate isadsorbed and held; and a plurality of movable members that each have anadsorption section to adsorb a rear surface of the substrate, at oneend, the plurality of movable members being movable relative to thesubstrate holding section in a state of adsorbing the rear surface ofthe substrate with the adsorption section, wherein at least one movablemember of the plurality of movable members has at least part that isdisplaced in at least one direction, by an action of a force receivedfrom the adsorbed substrate, the at least part including the adsorptionsection.

With this device, for example, when a substrate whose rear surface isadsorbed by adsorption sections of a plurality of movable members ismounted on a substrate holding section, the substrate is changed inshape (planarized) by being adsorbed by the substrate holding section,and at least part of at least one movable member is displaced in atleast one direction by receiving the force from the substrate so thatthe change in shape of the substrate is not hindered. Consequently, theoccurrence of distortion in a surface of the substrate caused by theadsorption by the plurality of movable members is suppressed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda substrate holding device that holds a substrate, the devicecomprising: a substrate holding section on which the substrate isadsorbed and held; and a plurality of movable members that each have oneend including an adsorption section to adsorb a rear surface of thesubstrate and the other end on an opposite side to the one end, theplurality of movable members being each movable relative to thesubstrate holding section in a state of adsorbing the rear surface ofthe substrate with the one end, wherein at least one movable member ofthe plurality of movable members is provided with a displacement sectionthat is disposed between the one end and the other end and is displacedin at least one direction by an action of a force received from thesubstrate.

With this device, for example, when a substrate whose rear surface isadsorbed by adsorption sections of a plurality of movable members ismounted on a substrate holding section, the substrate is changed inshape (planarized) by being adsorbed by the substrate holding section,and at least a displacement section of at least one movable member isdisplaced in at least one direction by receiving the force from thesubstrate so that the change in shape of the substrate is not hindered.Consequently, the occurrence of distortion in a surface of the substratecaused by the adsorption by the plurality of movable members issuppressed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedan exposure apparatus that exposes a substrate with an energy beam, theapparatus comprising: the substrate holding device of the first aspector the second aspect, that holds the substrate on the substrate holdingsection; and a pattern generating device that generates a pattern on thesubstrate by exposing the substrate with the energy beam.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda device manufacturing method, including: exposing a substrate using theexposure apparatus of the third aspect; and developing the substratethat has been exposed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of an exposureapparatus related an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a wafer stage in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a partially sectioned configuration of thewafer stage, with partial omission.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing three vertical movement pin units,together with part (a main body section) of a main body unit thatconfigures part of a center-up unit in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a disassembled perspective view showing the vertical movementpin unit in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an internal configuration of the verticalmovement pin unit.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are perspective views of a plate spring unit thatconfigures part of the vertical pin unit, when viewed from an obliquelyupward direction and an obliquely downward direction, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing input/output relationships of a maincontroller that is mainly configured of a control system of the exposureapparatus related to the embodiment.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are views (No. 1 and No. 2) used to explain loading of awafer on a wafer stage (a wafer holder).

FIGS. 10A and 10B are views (No. 3 and No. 4) used to explain loading ofa wafer on a wafer stage (a wafer holder).

FIG. 11A is a perspective view showing a center-up unit related to afirst modified example, with partial omission, and FIG. 11B is a planview of the center-up unit shown in FIG. 11A.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a center-up unit related to a second modifiedexample.

FIG. 13 is a view used to explain the configuration of vertical movementunits that configure a center-up unit related to another modifiedexample.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below, based onFIGS. 1 to 10.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus 100related to the embodiment. Exposure apparatus 100 is a projectionexposure apparatus of a step-and-scan method, which is a so-calledscanner. As will be described later, in the present embodiment, aprojection optical system PL is provided, and in the description below,the explanation is given assuming that a direction parallel to anoptical axis AXp of projection optical system PL is a Z-axis direction,a scanning direction in which a reticle and a wafer are relativelyscanned within a plane orthogonal to the Z-axis direction is a Y-axisdirection, a direction orthogonal to the Z-axis and the Y-axis is anX-axis direction, and rotation (tilt) directions around the X-axis, theY-axis and the Z-axis are θx, θy and θz directions, respectively.

Exposure apparatus 100 is equipped with an illumination system IOP, areticle stage RST that holds a reticle R, a projection unit PU thatprojects an image of a pattern formed on reticle R on a wafer W that iscoated with sensitive agent (resist), a wafer stage WST that holds waferW and moves within an XY plane, a control system thereof, and the like.

Illumination system TOP includes a light source and an illuminationoptical system that is coupled with the light source via an lighttransmitting optical system, and Illumination system IOP illuminates anillumination area IAR having a slit-like shape elongated in the X-axisdirection (a direction orthogonal to the page surface of FIG. 1) onreticle R defined (set) by a reticle blind (a masking system) withillumination light (exposure light) IL with substantially uniformilluminance. The configuration of illumination system IOP is disclosedin, for example, U.S. Application Publication No. 2003/0025890 and thelike. Herein, as illumination light IL, ArF excimer laser beam (with awavelength of 193 nm) is used as an example.

Reticle stage RST is disposed below illumination system IOP in FIG. 1.On reticle stage RST, reticle R having a pattern surface (a lowersurface in FIG. 1) on which a circuit pattern and the like are formed ismounted. Reticle R is fixed on reticle stage RST by, for example, vacuumadsorption.

Reticle stage RST is finely drivable within a horizontal plane (the XYplane) and also drivable in a predetermined stroke range in a scanningdirection (the Y-axis direction that is a lateral direction on the pagesurface of FIG. 1), with a reticle stage drive system 11 (not shown inFIG. 1, see FIG. 8) including, for example, a linear motor or a planarmotor or the like. Positional information within the XY plane (includingrotational information in the θz direction) of reticle stage RST isconstantly detected at a resolution of, for example, around 0.25 nm witha reticle laser interferometer (hereinafter, referred to as “reticleinterferometer”) 14 via a movable mirror 12 (or a reflection surfaceformed at the end surface of reticle stage RST). Measurement informationof reticle interferometer 14 is supplied to a main controller 20 (notshown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 8). Incidentally, in the present embodiment,instead of the reticle interferometer described above, an encoder may beused to detect the position of reticle stage RST within the XY plane.

Projection unit PU is disposed below reticle stage RST in FIG. 1.Projection unit PU includes a lens barrel 45 and projection opticalsystem PL held within lens barrel 45. As projection optical system PL,for example, a dioptric system composed of a plurality of opticalelements (lens elements) arrayed along optical axis AXp parallel to theZ-axis direction is used. Projection optical system PL is, for example,both-side telecentric, and has a predetermined projection magnification(such as ¼ times, ⅕ times or ⅛ times).

Therefore, when illumination area TAR on reticle R. is illuminated withillumination light IL from illumination system IOP, illumination lightIL, which has passed though reticle R whose pattern surface is placedsubstantially coincident with a first plane (an object plane) ofprojection optical system PL, forms a reduced image of a circuit pattern(a reduced image of part of the circuit pattern) of reticle R withinillumination area IAR, onto an area (hereinafter, also referred to as anexposure area) IA, conjugate with illumination area IAR described above,on wafer W whose surface is coated with resist (sensitive agent) andwhich is placed on a second plane (an image plane) side. Then, bydriving in synchronization of reticle stage RST and wafer stage WST,reticle R is moved in a scanning direction (the Y-axis direction)relative to illumination area IAR (illumination light IL) and also waferW is moved in the scanning direction (the Y-axis direction) relative toexposure area IA (illumination light IL), and thereby scanning exposureof one shot area (a divided area) on wafer W is performed and thepattern of reticle R is transferred onto the shot area. That is, in thepresent embodiment, a pattern of reticle R is generated on wafer W byillumination system IOP and projection optical system PL, and thepattern is formed on wafer W by exposure of a sensitive layer (a resistlayer) on wafer W with illumination light IL.

Wafer stage WST is, as shown in FIG. 1, equipped with a stage main body52 and a wafer table WTB mounted on stage main body 52. Wafer stage WSTis driven in predetermined strokes in the X-axis direction and theY-axis direction on a stage base 22 and is also finely driven in theZ-axis direction, the θx direction, the θy direction and the θzdirection, with a stage drive system 24 that includes, for example, alinear motor or a planar motor or the like.

Wafer W is fixed on wafer table WTB by, for example, vacuum adsorptionvia wafer holder WH (not shown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 2) serving as asubstrate holding section.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of wafer stage WST without wafer W, togetherwith an air supply/exhaust mechanism of wafer holder WH. And, FIG. 3shows a simplified section view taken along the line A-A line of FIG. 2with partial omission, together with the wafer.

As shown in FIG. 2, wafer holder NH having substantially the same sizeas wafer W is fixed on the upper surface of wafer stage WST, i.e., inthe center of the upper surface of wafer table WTB.

Wafer holder WH is, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, equipped with:a base section 26; a plurality of projecting pin sections 32 that areprovided at a predetermined distance in an area of a predetermined sizein the center portion, except for an annular area with a predeterminedwidth in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the upper surface (thesurface on the front side on the page surface of FIG. 2) of base section26; an annular projecting section (hereinafter, referred to as a “rimsection”) 28 that is provided in the vicinity of the outer peripheryedge in a state of surrounding the area in which the plurality of pinsections 32 are disposed; and the like.

Wafer holder WH is made of a material with a low thermal expansioncoefficient, e.g., ceramics or the like, and the surface of the materialsuch as ceramics having a discoidal shape as a whole is etched, andthereby base section 26 having a circular plate shape structuring thebottom surface portion, and rim section 28 and the plurality of pinsections 32 provided protruding on the upper surface of base section 26are integrally formed. The outer diameter of rim section 28 is setslightly smaller than the outer diameter of wafer W, e.g., is set toaround 1 to 2 mm smaller, and the upper surface of rim section 28 isprocessed to be horizontal and flat so that a gap is not generatedbetween the upper surface and the rear surface of wafer W when wafer Wis placed on the upper surface.

As shown in FIG. 3, pin sections 32 each have a projection shape so thatthe tip portion of each pin section is positioned substantially coplanarwith rim section 28. These pin sections 32 are disposed along multipleconcentric circles with a reference point on base section 26, which isthe center point in this case, serving as the center.

With respect to wafer holder WH configured as described above, in themanufacturing phase, after base section 26, pin sections 32 and rimsection 28 are integrally formed as is described previously, polishingprocessing is applied to the upper end surface of the plurality of pinsections 32 and the upper surface of rim section 28 that ultimatelyserve as the contacting surface with wafer W, using a polisher, abrasivegrains or the like. As a result, the upper end surfaces of the pluralityof pin sections 32 and the upper surface of rim section 28 arepositioned substantially coplanar. In the present embodiment, a planeconnecting the upper end surfaces of the plurality of pin sections 32(which coincide with the upper surface of rim section 28) forms a wafermounding plane WMS of wafer holder WH. In this case, a section in whichpin sections 32 do not exist, of an inside area of rim section 28, is aspace and there is no surface in fact. Consequently, hereinafter, ofwafer mounting plane WMS, the upper surface of rim section 28 and theinside area of rim section 28 are referred to as a wafer holding area,and denoted as wafer holding area WMS using the same reference sign asthe wafer mounting plane.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in the vicinity of the center portion of basesection 26, three through holes 84 (not shown in FIG. 2, see FIG. 3) ina vertical direction (a direction orthogonal to the page surface) areformed at positions of the respective vertices of a substantiallyequilateral triangle, in a state of not mechanically interfering withpin sections 32. These three through-hoes 84 are, as shown in FIG. 3,formed penetrating base section 26 of wafer holder WH and wafer tableWTB in the Z-axis direction (the vertical direction). In the threethrough holes 84, vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ (alsoreferred to as “movable member”, as needed) having a roughly columnarshape are inserted, respectively. The three (three units of) verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ can each be vertically movedbetween a first position (an upper limit movement position) in whichtheir upper ends (also referred to as one ends) protrude above waferholding area WMS, and a second position (a lower limit movementposition) in which the upper ends do not protrude above wafer holdingarea WMS, via through hole 84, by being driven by a drive device 94 (tobe described later). In the present embodiment, the respective lowerlimit movement positions of the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁,34 ₂ and 34 ₃ are set at the same position as the upper surface of basesection 26 or at a position below the upper surface. As shown in FIG. 3,the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ are each fixedto the upper surface of a main body unit 96 (a main body section 92)that configures part of drive device 94 (to be described later). In thepresent embodiment, the respective upper end surfaces of the threevertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ are positioned on aplane having the same height.

The three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ are driven bydrive device 94, thereby to be freely lifted/lowered simultaneously bythe same amount in the vertical direction (the Z-axis direction). In thepresent embodiment, the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and34 ₃ and drive device 94 configure a center-up unit 80. Theconfiguration of center-up unit 80 will be described in more detaillater. Incidentally, the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂and 34 ₃ need not necessarily be lifted/lowered simultaneously by thesame amount, and for example, such a configuration may be employed thatthese vertical movement pin units are lifted/lowered independently fromeach other by drive device 94.

At the time of wafer loading and wafer unloading which will be describedlater, by being driven by drive device 94, the three vertical movementpin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ can support wafer W from below or can bevertically moved in a state of supporting wafer W.

Referring back to FIG. 2, on the upper surface of base section 26, aplurality of air supply/exhaust openings 36 are formed at apredetermined distance along radiation directions (three radialdirections at intervals of the central angle of about 120 degrees) fromthe vicinity of the center portion of the upper surface of base section26. These air supply/exhaust openings 36 are also formed at positionsthat do not mechanically interfere with pin sections 32. Airsupply/exhaust openings 36 are in a state of communicating with airsupply/exhaust branch pipes 40 a, 40 b and 40 c that are coupled to theouter peripheral surface of base section 26, via air supply/exhaustpassages 38A, 38B and 38C, respectively, that are formed inside basesection 26. Air supply/exhaust branch pipes 40 a, 40 b and 40 cconfigure part of an air supply/exhaust mechanism 70 which will bedescribed later.

Each of air supply/exhaust passages 38A, 38B and 38C is made up of: anarterial passage that is formed along a radial direction from the outerperipheral surface of base section 26 toward the vicinity of the centerportion of base section 26; and a plurality of branch passages that areeach branched in the +Z direction from the arterial passage, at apredetermined distance along the radial direction. In this case, therespective opened ends of the upper ends of the plurality of branchpassages serve as air supply/exhaust openings 36 described previously.

To wafer holder WH, coupled is air supply/exhaust mechanism 70 includinga vacuum adsorption mechanism that adsorbs and holds wafer W, mounted onwafer holder WH and supported from below by the plurality of pinsections 32 and rim section 28, against the respective upper endsurfaces (also referred to as the upper end portions or one endportions) of the plurality of pin sections 32 and rim section 28.

Air supply/exhaust mechanism 70 is, as shown in FIG. 2, equipped with avacuum pump 46A and an air supply device 46B, and an air supply/exhaustpipes 40 that couples vacuum pump 46A and air supply device 46B to eachof air supply/exhaust passage 38A to 38C.

Air supply/exhaust pipe 40 is configured of an air supply/exhaust mainpipe 40 d, air supply/exhaust branch pipes 40 a, 40 b and 40 c describedpreviously that are branched into three from one end of airsupply/exhaust main pipe 40 d, and an air exhaust branch pipe 40 e andan air supply branch pipe 40 f that are branched into two from the otherend of air supply/exhaust main pipe 40 d.

To the end portion of air exhaust branch pipe 40 e on the side oppositeto air supply/exhaust main pipe 40 d, vacuum pump 46A is coupled. And,to the end portion of air supply branch pipe 40 f on the side oppositeto air supply/exhaust main pipe 40 d, air supply device 46B is coupled.

Further, to part of air supply/exhaust main pipe 40 d, a pressure sensor98 (not shown in FIG. 2, see FIG. 8) for measuring the pressure insideair supply/exhaust pipe 40 is coupled. The measurement values ofpressure sensor 98 are supplied to a main controller 20, and maincontroller 20 controls ON/OFF (operation/non-operation) of vacuum pump46A and air supply device 46B, based on the measurement values ofpressure sensor 98 and control information of loading/unloading of awafer. Incidentally, instead of controlling the ON/OFF of vacuum pump46A and air supply device 46B, vacuum pump 46A and air supply device 46Bmay be coupled to air exhaust branch pipe 40 e and air supply branchpipe 40 g, respectively, via valves (not shown) such as electromagneticvalves, and the opening/closing control of these valves may beperformed. Further, instead of air supply/exhaust mechanism 70 of thepresent embodiment, an air supply/exhaust mechanism may be used that areequipped with:

a first vacuum pump for vacuum exhaustion at the normal time; a vacuumchamber and a second vacuum pump for high-speed exhaustion used duringthe wafer loading; and an air supply device, as disclosed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 6,710,857.

The configuration and the like of center-up unit 80 will be describednow. Center-up unit 80 is, as shown in FIG. 3, equipped with the threevertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃ and drive device 94 that drivesthe three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃ in the verticaldirection.

Drive device 94 has: main body unit 96 to the upper surface of which thethree vertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃ are attached; a driveaxis 93 to the upper end surface of which main body unit 96 is fixed;and a drive mechanism 95 that drives drive axis 93 in the verticaldirection, integrally with main body unit 96 and the three verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃. Incidentally, of the three verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃, portions attached to main body unit 96are also referred to as “lower ends” or “the other ends” as needed. Thatis, the lower ends of the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃are the end portions on the opposite side to the upper ends of the threevertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃, and include regions attachedto main body unit 96.

Main body unit 96 is disposed parallel to the XY plane, and includes aplate-shaped pedestal member 91 whose lower surface is fixed to theupper end surface of drive axis 93, and main body section 92 fixed tothe upper surface of pedestal member 91. The axis center position ofdrive axis 93 substantially coincides with the center of gravity of mainbody unit 96. Accordingly, the axis center position of drive axis 93does not necessarily coincide with the center of gravity of the triangle(the equilateral triangle in the present embodiment) connecting theinstalled points of the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃that coincides with the center of wafer holder WH (wafer holding areaWMS).

Drive mechanism 95 includes, for example, a motor (e.g., a voice coilmotor or a linear motor) as a drive source, and drives drive axis 93 inthe vertical direction with the drive force of the motor. Drivemechanism 95 is fixed on a bottom wall 52 a of stage main body 52. Basedon control signals from main controller 20, drive mechanism 95vertically moves main body unit 96 and the three vertical movement pinunits 34 ₁ to 34 ₃ via drive axis 93, in a predetermined range, i.e.,between the lower limit movement position and the upper limit movementposition described previously. Incidentally, in the case when the axiscenter of drive axis 93 does not coincide with the center of gravity ofthe equilateral triangle connecting the installed points of the threevertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃, it is desirable to provide aguide member that accurately guides main body unit 96 and the threevertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃ into the Z-axis direction.

Main body section 92 that configures part of main body unit 96 is, asshown in FIG. 4, a member that has: a plate-shaped section 92 a having aroughly rectangular shape in a planar view (viewed from above (the +Zdirection)); a protruding section 92 b that protrudes to the −Y sidefrom the center portion in the X-axis direction of the −Y side surfaceof plate-shaped section 92 a; and protruding sections 92 c and 92 d thatoutwardly protrude in the X-axis direction, respectively, from both endportions in the X-axis direction of the side end portion of plate-shapedsection 92 a. To the respective upper surfaces of protruding sections 92b, 92 c and 92 d, vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ areindividually attached. Vertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃ aredisposed at positions on main body section 92 that are substantially therespective vertices of an equilateral triangle in a planar view, as anexample.

Vertical movement pin units 34 ₁,34 ₂ and 34 ₃ are attached in a similarmanner except for the attached positions, and are also configured in asimilar manner. Vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁ is representativelytaken up herein, and its configuration and the structure of theattachment sections are explained.

On the upper surface of protruding section 92 b, as shown in FIG. 6 (andFIG. 5), a circular opening 69 ₁ having a predetermined depth is formed.Inside opening 69 ₁, as shown in FIG. 6, the lower end of verticalmovement pin unit 34 ₁ is inserted with almost no gap, and by thisinsertion, vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁ is fixed to main body section92.

Vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁ is, as shown in FIG. 5, configured of acombination of a plate spring unit 66 ₁, a flexible tube 67 ₁ and a pinhead 68 ₁.

Plate spring unit 66 ₁ includes, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, a platespring 71 (also referred to as “displacement section” as needed) thatextends a predetermined length in the Z-axis direction, a base connector72 connected to the lower end portion (also referred to as “the otherend portion” as needed) of plate spring 71, and a head connector 73connected to the upper end portion of plate spring 71.

Plate spring 71 is a plane plate spring made up of a thin metal plate (athin-wall plate-shaped member) such as a spring steel, and has apredetermined length in the height direction (the Z-axis direction).Plate spring 71 has, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper end portion and thelower end portion that are thick-wall portions thicker than the rest.Plate spring 71 has the rigidity in the thin-wall direction (the Y-axisdirection in FIGS. 5 and 6) much lower than that in the thick-walldirection (the Z-axis direction and the X-axis direction in FIG. 5).Therefore, plate spring 71 is freely deformed (bending deformation,flexural deformation) in the YZ plane. As shown in FIG. 6, in thepresent embodiment, plate spring 71 as the displacement section, isdisposed between the upper end (e.g. pin head 68 ₁) and the lower end(e.g., base connector 72) of vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁.

Base connector 72 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, made up of astepped member having a cylindrical shape with a flange section 74provided in the center portion in the height direction. Base connector72 is, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, formed by integrating a firstcylindrical member 72A provided with flange section 74 at the upper endportion and a second cylindrical member 723 having the lower end portionwhose part is inserted inside cylindrical member 72A from above withoutany gap. Second cylindrical member 723 has a wall thickness that isthinner compared with first cylindrical member 72A.

Inside second cylindrical member 72B, the thick-wall portion on thelower end side of plate spring 71 is inserted in a state of bisectingthe internal space of second cylindrical member 72B, and both membersare integrally connected to each other.

Plate spring unit 66 ₁ is supported from below by protruding section 92b via flange section 74, by second cylindrical member 72B being insertedinside opening 69 ₁. That is, flange section 74 functions as afall-prevention member for plate spring unit 66 ₁.

Head connector 73 is made up of a cylindrical member similar to secondcylindrical member 72B, and inside head connector 73, the thick-wallportion on the upper end side of plate spring 71 is inserted in a stateof bisecting the internal space of head connector 73, and both membersare integrally connected to each other.

Flexible tube 67 ₁ is made up of a bellows member (a bellows) having acylindrical shape, and the lower end surface of flexible tube 67 ₁ isconnected to the upper surface of flange section 74 of base connector 72in a state in which plate spring unit 66 ₁ is inserted inside flexibletube 67 ₁. Further, since flexible tube 67 ₁ is made up of a bellowsmember, it slightly elongates and contracts in the Z-axis direction, andis freely bendable. However, in the X-axis direction in which therigidity of plate spring 71 is high, the deformation of flexible tube 67₁ is hindered by plate spring 71.

Pin head 68 ₁ is, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, made up of a thick-wallmember having a cylindrical shape with a low height, in the center parof which a stepped opening having a circular shape is formed. Thestepped opening formed in pin head 68 ₁ has an inner diameter (adiameter) on the lower side that is larger than an inner diameter (adiameter) on the upper side, and the inner diameter on the lower side issubstantially the same as an outer diameter of head connector 73. Headconnector 73 and pin head 68 ₁ are integrated, in a state in which headconnector 73 of plate spring unit 66 ₁ abuts against a step section ofthe stepped opening of pin head 68 ₁, and thereby plate spring unit 66₁, pin head 68 ₁ and flexible tube 67 ₁ are assembled. In this assembledstate, the upper end surface of flexible tube 67 ₁ faces the lowersurface of pin head 68 ₁ via a small gap. Incidentally, the shape of pinhead 68 ₁ is not limited to the above-described one, and for example, anopening may be rectangular or the outer shape may be a prismatic shape.

The other vertical movement pin units 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ are configuredsimilarly to vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁ described above, and areattached to the upper surfaces of protruding sections 92 c and 92 d,respectively. However, vertical movement pin unit 34 ₂ is attached toprotruding section 92 c in a state in which the normal direction (thethin-wall direction) of the surface of plate spring 71 that configurespart of vertical movement pin unit 34 ₂ coincides with a direction at anangle of +60 degrees with respect to the Y-axis within the XY plane.Further, vertical movement pin unit 34 ₃ is attached to protrudingsection 92 d in a state in which the normal direction (the thin-walldirection) of the surface of plate spring 71 that configures part ofvertical movement pin unit 34 ₃ coincides with a direction at an angleof −60 degrees with respect to the Y-axis within the XY plane.

That is, in the present embodiment, the orientations of the surfaces ofthe three spring plates 71 are set so that the normal lines of thesurfaces of the three spring plates 71 that are individually equipped invertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ intersect, within the XYplane, at a center of gravity G (which coincides with the circumcenterand the incenter) of the equilateral triangle that connects theinstalled points (three points on the XY plane) of vertical movement pinunits 34 ₁ to 34 ₃ (see FIG. 4). Therefore, vertical movement pin units34 ₁ to 34 ₃ are configured so that pins heads 68 ₁, 68 ₂ and 68 ₃positioned at the upper ends are moved, by the action of externalforces, in a radial direction of a circumcircle with the center ofgravity G described above (which substantially coincides with the centerof wafer holding area WMS of wafer holder WH) serving as the center,i.e. , in a direction for moving away from the center of wafer holdingarea WMS of wafer holder WH described previously or in a direction formoving closer to the center. Further, vertical movement pin units 34 ₁to 34 ₃ are configured so that the sections upper than base connectors72 of their respective lower ends swing (turn) around an axis orthogonalto the radial direction described above and to a vertical axis (Z-axis)direction.

Inside main body section 92, as shown in FIG. 6 in which the vicinity ofprotruding section 92 b is representatively taken up, a flow passage(space) 60 that communicates with the internal space of each ofprotruding sections 92 b, 92 c and 92 d is formed, and flow passage 60communicates with the inside of first cylindrical member 72A of baseconnector 72 attached to each protruding section.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, the three verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃ are coupled to main body section 92, andthereby a flow passage that communicates from flow passage 60 in mainbody section 92 to the stepped openings of pin heads 68 ₁ to 68 ₃ isformed. A vacuum pump 46C (see FIG. 8) is coupled to flow passage 60 viaa piping system (now shown). By main controller 20 setting the inside offlow passage 60 into negative pressure using vacuum pump 46C, in a statein which wafer W is supported from below by the three vertical movementpin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃, wafer W is adsorbed and held, from its rearsurface (lower surface) side, on the upper ends (pin heads 68 ₁ to 68 ₃)of the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃.

Referring back to FIG. 1, positional information of wafer stage WSTwithin the XY plane (which includes rotational information (a yawingamount (a rotation amount θz in the θz direction), a pitching amount (arotation amount θx in the θx direction), and a rolling amount (arotation amount θy in the θy direction))) is constantly detected at aresolution of, for example, around 0.25 nm with a laser interferometersystem (hereinafter, shortly referred to as an “interferometer system”)18 via a movable mirror 16. Herein, practically, a Y movable mirror 16Yhaving a reflection surface orthogonal to the Y-axis and an X movablemirror 16X having a reflection surface orthogonal to the X-axis arefixed to wafer stage WST, as shown in FIG. 2. Further, interferometersystem 18 is configured including a Y interferometer and an Xinterferometer, corresponding to the movable mirrors, that irradiate Ymovable mirror 16Y and Y movable mirror 16X, respectively, withmeasurement beams, but these movable mirrors and interferometers arerepresentatively shown by movable mirror 16 and interferometer system 18in FIG. 1.

Measurement information of interferometer system 18 is supplied to maincontroller 20 (see FIG. 8). Main controller 20 controls the position ofwafer stage WST within the XY plane (including the rotation in the θZdirection) via stage drive system 24, based on measurement informationof interferometer system 18. Incidentally, the position of wafer stageWST within the XY plane may be detected using, for example, an encodersystem in which scales (diffraction gratings) or heads are mounted on awafer stage, instead of interferometer system 18.

Further, although omitted in FIG. 1, the position and an inclinationamount in the Z-axis direction of the surface of wafer W held by waferholder WH are measured by a focus sensor AF (see FIG. 8) made up of amultipoint focal position detection system of an oblique incident methodthat is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,332 and the like.Measurement information of such focus sensor AF is also supplied to maincontroller 20 (see FIG. 8).

Further, on wafer stage WST, a fiducial plate FP (see FIGS. 1 and 2)whose surface is at the same height as the surface of wafer W. On thesurface of fiducial plate FP, a plurality of fiducial marks are formedthat include a pair of first marks that are detected with a reticlealignment detection system to be described later and second marks usedin baseline measurement of an alignment detection system AS to bedescribed later and the like.

Further, on the side surface of lens barrel 45 of projection unit PU,alignment detection system AS that detects alignment marks and referencemarks formed on wafer W is provided. As alignment detection system AS,an FIA (Field Image Alignment) system is used, as an example, which is atype of an image-forming alignment sensor of an image processing methodthat irradiates a mark with broadband (wideband) light such as halogenlamp and measures the mark position by performing image processing ofthe mark image.

In exposure apparatus 100, a pair of reticle alignment detection systems13 (not shown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 8) composed of TTR (Through TheReticle) alignment systems using light with an exposure wavelength arefurther provided above reticle stage RST, which is disclosed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,413 and the like. Detection signals ofreticle alignment detection systems 13 are supplied to main controller20 (see FIG. 8).

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram showing input/output relationships of maincontroller 20 that is mainly configured of a control system of exposureapparatus 100 and performs overall control of the respective components.Main controller 20 includes a workstation (or a microcomputer), andperforms the overall control of the respective components of exposureapparatus 100.

Next, a series of operations performed in exposure apparatus 100configured as described above will be described, focusing on a waferexchange operation (loading and unloading operations of wafers).

For example, in processing of a first wafer in a lot, first of all,reticle R is loaded on reticle stage RST, and main controller 20performs reticle alignment and baseline measurement of alignmentdetection system AS according to the procedures disclosed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,413 and the like, using the pair of reticlealignment detection systems 13, the pair of first marks and second markson fiducial plate FP, and alignment detection system AS.

Subsequently, at a wafer exchange position (not shown), wafer W that hasbeen coated with sensitive agent (resist) by a coater/developer (notshown) that is, for example, inline-coupled to exposure apparatus 100 isloaded on wafer holder WH of wafer stage WST. This loading of wafer W isperformed in the procedures described below. Incidentally, theexplanation of adsorption of wafers and releasing of the adsorption by aloading arm, an unloading arm and the like will be omitted in thefollowing description.

First of all, as shown by an outlined arrow in FIG. 9A, wafer W iscarried to above wafer holder WH by a loading arm 97A that configurespart of a wafer carrier system. Next, as shown by a black arrow in FIG.9B, main controller 20 drives vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and34 ₃ in the +Z direction toward the upper limit movement positiondescribed previously via drive device 94. In the midst of this movement,wafer W supported by loading arm 97A is supported from below by verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃, and vertical movement pin units34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ are further driven upward, and thereby wafer W issupported from below by vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃and is delivered from loading arm 97A to vertical movement pin units 34₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃. Prior to this delivery, vacuum pump 46C is operated bymain controller 20, and the rear surface of wafer W is adsorbed and heldby the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ (pin heads68 ₁, 68 ₂ and 68 ₃). At this point in time, when deformation of wafer Wsuch as upper convex warpage or lower convex warpage occurs, wafer W isadsorbed and held, being kept in a deformed state, by the three verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃.

Subsequently, as shown by an outlined arrow in FIG. 9B, loading arm 97Ais withdrawn from above wafer holder WH. After the withdrawal of loadingarm 97A, as shown by a black arrow in FIG. 10A, main controller 20drives vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ in the −Zdirection toward the vicinity of the lower limit movement positiondescribed previously via drive device 94. Consequently, as shown in FIG.10B, the rear surface of wafer W abuts against wafer holding area WMS ofwafer holder WH, and wafer W is mounted on wafer holder WH. At thispoint in time, since main controller 20 operates vacuum pump 46Adescribed previously, and wafer W is adsorbed by vacuum by wafer holderWH. In this case, when deformation of wafer W such as the upper convexwarpage or lower convex warpage described previously occurs, wafer W iscorrected and planarized by the suction force of wafer holder WH. Withthis planarized correction processing of wafer W, wafer W tries toreturn to a flat planar shape without warpage. At this point in time,mainly the force in a radial direction with the center of wafer Wservings as the center is applied from wafer W to pin heads 68 ₁ to 68 ₃of the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₂ to 34 ₃ that adsorb therear surface of wafer W. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the force inthe Y-axis direction (±Y direction) (see an arrow A in FIG. 4) and/orthe force in the ex direction (see an arrow B in FIG. 4) act (s) on pinhead 68 ₁ (a wafer adsorbing section) of vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁disposed on the −Y side, and consequently, the deformation of platespring 71 of vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁ occurs, e.g., plate spring71 of vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁ is bent (warps) with its −Z endserving as the fulcrum, or warps into, for example, an S-shape viewedfrom the +X direction.

According to this deformation of plate spring 71, flexible tube 67 ₁ isdeformed. The bending deformation referred to firstly of plate spring 71causes pin head 68 ₁ to move in the θx direction, and the S-shapeflexural deformation referred to secondly of plate spring 71 causes pinhead 68 ₁ to move in the Y-axis direction. At this point in time, sincepart of flexible tube 67 ₁ is in through hole 84 of wafer holder WH andwafer table WTB, the outer peripheral surface of flexible tube 67 ₁contacts with the inner wall surface of through hole 84 at times.However, such a configuration is employed that the contact betweenflexible tube 67 ₁ and the inner wall surface of through hole 84 doesnot hinder the deformation of plate spring 71 because there is apredetermined gap between through hole 84 and vertical movement pin unit34 ₁ and further flexible tube 67 ₁ is freely deformable.

Pin heads 68 ₂ and 68 ₃ of the other vertical movement pin units 34 ₂and 34 ₃ moved in the radial direction or the tilt direction of wafer W(wafer holder WH) in a similar manner. Also in vertical movement pinunits 34 ₂ and 34 ₃, such a configuration is employed that the contactbetween each of flexible tubes 67 ₂ and 67 ₃ and the inner wall surfaceof through hole 84 does not hinder the deformation of plate spring 71.Accordingly, in center-up unit 80, the planarized operation of wafer Wis not hindered by the adsorption holding force of the three verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁ to 34 ₃. Consequently, the distortion caused bythe adsorption holding of the three vertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to34 ₃ is avoided from occurring in wafer W held by wafer holder WH.

After the loading of wafer W, main controller 20 implements alignmentmeasurement (e.g., EGA) to detect a plurality of alignment marks onwafer W, using alignment detection system AS. Consequently, arrangementcoordinates of a plurality of shot areas on wafer W are obtained.Incidentally, the details of the alignment measurement (EGA) aredisclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,617 and the like.

Subsequently, main controller 20 performs an exposure operation by astep-and-scan method in which a stepping operation to move wafer W to anacceleration staring position for exposure of the plurality of shotareas on wafer W based on the results of the alignment measurement, andthe scanning exposure operation described previously are repeated, and apattern of reticle R is sequentially transferred onto all the shot areason wafer W. Incidentally, since the exposure operation by astep-and-scan method has no differences from the conventional one, thedetailed description is omitted.

When the exposure is completed, wafer W that has been exposed isunloaded from wafer holder WH of wafer stage WST in the procedures asbelow.

Specifically, first of all, wafer stage WST is moved to a predeterminedwafer exchange position, and main controller 20 stops the operation ofvacuum pump 46A and also starts the operation of air supply device 46B,and the pressurized air is blown out from air supply device 46B to therear surface side of wafer W via air supply/exhaust openings 36.Consequently, wafer W is levitated from wafer holding area WMS of waferholder WH. Subsequently, main controller 20 drives vertical movement pinunits 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ in the +Z direction toward the upper limitmovement position described previously, via drive device 94. In themidst of this upward movement of vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂and 34 ₃, wafer W is supported from below by vertical movement pin units34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ and is lifted to the upper limit movement position.

Incidentally, it is also possible that each of vertical movement pinunits 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ adsorbs and holds the rear surface of wafer Wwhen vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 3 ⁴ ₂ and 34 ₃ are moved upward.

Subsequently, an unloading arm (not shown) that configures part of thecarrier system is inserted below wafer W supported by vertical movementpin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃. Then, main controller 20 drives verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ downward (drives verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ in the −Z direction) to apredetermined stand-by position (a predetermined position between theupper limit movement position and the lower limit movement position). Inthe midst of this downward movement of vertical movement pin units 34 ₁,34 ₂ and 34 ₃, wafer W is delivered from vertical movement pin units 34₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ to the unloading arm. Incidentally, in the case wheneach of vertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ adsorbs andholds the rear surface of wafer W, the adsorption is releasedimmediately before the delivery. Then, the unloading arm holds wafer Wand is withdrawn. After that, the loading operation of wafer W and thesubsequent operations described above are repeatedly performed and aplurality of wafers in a lot are sequentially processed. After theprocessing of the lot is completed, the similar processing is repeatedlyperformed to wafers in a next lot.

As is described above, with wafer stage WST equipped in exposureapparatus 100 related to the present embodiment, when wafer W whose rearsurface is adsorbed by pin heads 68 ₁, 68 ₂ and 68 ₃ of the threevertical movement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ is mounted on waferholding area WMS (the wafer mounting plane) of wafer holder WH, wafer Wis adsorbed by wafer holder WH and changed in shape (planarized). Onthat occasion, in order to prevent the change in shape of wafer W frombeing hindered, upon receipt of the force (an example of the externalforce described in the present embodiment) from wafer W, in verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃, plate springs 71 that verticalmovement pin units 34 ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ respectively have are displacedin at least one direction (the thin-wall direction), and consequently atleast part including each of heads 68 ₁, 68 ₂ and 68 ₃ is displaced inat least one direction of the respective two directions (see the arrowsin FIG. 4) described previously. Consequently, the occurrence ofdistortion in a surface of wafer W caused by the adsorption of the threevertical movement pin units ³⁴ ₁, 34 ₂ and 34 ₃ is suppressed.Accordingly, even if wafer W is a large wafer such as a wafer with adiameter of 450 mm, wafer

W can be stably supported from below by the three vertical movement pins134, and also it becomes possible to load the wafer W onto wafer holderWH almost without generating the distortion.

Further, with exposure apparatus 100 related to the present embodiment,the exposure by a step-and-scan method is performed to wafer W that hasbeen loaded onto wafer holder WH almost without generating thedistortion. Accordingly, it becomes possible to transfer a pattern ofreticle R onto each shot area on wafer W by accurately superposing thepattern on patterns that have been already formed.

Incidentally, center-up unit 80 equipped in wafer stage WST related tothe embodiment described above can be modified in various manners as ina first modified example and a second modified example that will bedescribed below. Wafer stages related to the modified examples will bedescribed below, focusing on center-up units.

First Modified Example

FIG. 11A shows, in a perspective view, a center-up unit 180 equipped ina wafer stage related to the first modified example, except for driveaxis 93 and drive mechanism 95, and FIG. 11B shows a plan view ofcenter-up unit 180 shown in FIG. 11A.

Center-up unit 180 is equipped with three vertical movement pins 134 anda main body unit 196, instead of vertical movement pin units 34 ₁ to 34₃ and main body unit 96.

Main body unit 196 has a hexagonal shape, in a planar view (viewed fromabove (+Z direction)), that appears to be formed by truncating thevicinity of each of vertices of an equilateral triangle along a lineparallel to a base that corresponds to each of the vertices, i.e., ahexagonal shape formed by connecting short sides and long sidesalternately. Main body unit 196 includes: a base member 191 having a Yshape in a planar view that has three end surfaces that respectivelyconfigure the short sides of the foregoing hexagonal shape; and threeplate springs 171 that interlink the end surfaces of base member 191 andrespectively configure the long sides of the foregoing hexagonal shape.Base member 191 is made up of a Y-shaped member having three bar-shapedsections at intervals of the center angle of 120 degrees, and has thesufficient rigidity in directions of six degrees of freedom. Meanwhile,plate springs 171 are disposed to interlink the tips of the threebar-shaped sections of base member 191, and each have the lower rigidityonly in a direction orthogonal to the interlinking direction in a planarview, compared with that in the other directions (e.g., plate spring 171disposed on the -Y side has the lower rigidity in the Y-axis direction).

The three vertical movement pins 134 are fixed to the center portions ofthe three plate springs 171, respectively. Each of the three verticalmovement pins 134 is made up of a cylindrical member having thesufficient rigidity in the directions of six degrees of freedom.Further, to each of the three vertical movement pins 134, a vacuumdevice such as a vacuum pump (now shown) is coupled via piping (notshown). By generating negative pressure in a space inside the threevertical movement pins 134, via the vacuum device (e.g., the vacuumpump) (not shown) in a state in which wafer W is supported from below bythe three vertical movement pins 134, wafer W is adsorbed and held bythe three vertical movement pins 134. In this adsorbed and held state,when the planarized correction is applied to wafer W, for example, andthe force in a radial direction with the center of wafer W serving asthe center acts from wafer W on the three vertical movement pins 134,each of the three vertical movement pins 134 is moved in a direction ofthe force (see double-headed arrows in FIG. 11A).

Also with wafer stage WST having center-up unit 180 related to the firstmodified example instead of center-up unit 80, the effect equivalent toexposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment described above can beobtained. That is, even in the case when the size of wafer W isincreased, wafer W can be stably supported from below by the threevertical movement pins 134 of center-up unit 180, and also theoccurrence of distortion of wafer W accompanying the adsorption holdingby vertical movement pins 134, and thus the occurrence of distortion ofwafer W after being loaded on the wafer holder can be suppressed oravoided.

Incidentally, in the embodiment and the first modified example describedabove, the center-up unit has three vertical movement members (thevertical movement pin units or the vertical movement pins). However, thecenter-up unit may have two, or four or more vertical movement members,and for example, may have six vertical movement members as in the secondmodified example that will be described below.

Second Modified Example

FIG. 12 shows a plan view of a center-up unit 280 equipped in a waferstage related to the second modified example. Center-up unit 280 isequipped with a main body unit 296 fixed to the upper surface (thesurface on the +Z side) of drive axis 93. Main body unit 296 isconfigured including a pedestal member 291 made up of a plate memberhaving a regular hexagonal shape in a planar view, and a main bodysection 292 made up of a frame member having a regular hexagonal shapein a planar view that is fixed to the upper surface of pedestal member291. Main body unit 296 has the functions similar to those of main bodyunit 96 described previously, while having the different shape from mainbody unit 96.

On the upper surface of main body section 292, the six (six units of)vertical movement pin units 234 ₁, 234 a, 234 ₂/234 b, 234 ₃ and 234 care attached to positions of the respective vertices of a regularhexagon.

Of the six vertical movement pin units, the three vertical movement pinunits 234 ₁, 234 ₂ and 234 ₃ installed at positions of the respectivevertices of an equilateral triangle, including vertical movement pinunit 234 ₁ positioned at the end portion on the −Y side in FIG. 12, areconfigured similarly to vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁ and the likerelated to the embodiment described previously, and are attached to theupper surface of main body section 292 in a similar manner.

The remaining three vertical movement pin units 234 a, 234 b and 234 care installed on positions of the respective vertices of anotherequilateral triangle, and in each of these vertical movement pin units234 a, 234 b and 234 c, the structure is employed in which only therigidity in the Z-axis direction is high and the rigidity in the otherdirections is low. For example, instead of plate spring 71 describedpreviously, a spring member having a rod shape is employed to configurevertical movement pin units 234 a, 234 b and 234 c, in a similar mannerto vertical movement pin unit 34 ₁ and the like described previously.Consequently, the three vertical movement pin units 234 a, 234 b and 234c that have the high rigidity only in the Z-axis direction and the lowrigidity in the other directions are realized.

At least the respective parts of the three vertical movement pin units234 ₁, 234 ₂ and 234 ₃ including the pin heads (the adsorption sections)are displaced in a radial direction of a circumcircle of the regularhexagon described previously by the action of the force from a wafer atthe time of the adsorption, and at least the respective parts of theremaining three vertical movement pin units 234 a, 234 b and 234 cincluding the pin heads (the adsorption sections) are displaced in atleast the radial direction and a tangential direction of thecircumcircle.

Also with wafer stage WST having center-up unit 280 related to thesecond modified example instead of center-up unit 80, the effectequivalent to the embodiment described above can be obtained. That is,even in the case when the size of wafer W is increased, wafer W can bestably supported from below by the six vertical movement pin units ofcenter-up unit 280, and also the occurrence of distortion of wafer Waccompanying the adsorption holding by the vertical movement pin units,and thus the occurrence of distortion of wafer W after being loaded onthe wafer holder can be suppressed or avoided. In this case, since waferW is supported at six points, not only a 300 mm wafer but also a largerwafer such as a 450 mm wafer can be more stably supported.

Incidentally, while all the three vertical movement members have thesame structure (including the shape) in the embodiment and the firstmodified example described previously, the structure of at least onevertical movement pin unit may be different from the other verticalmovement pin units as long as wafer W can be kinematically supportedfrom below. For example, a set of three vertical movement pin units thatsupport a wafer on the principle similar to the so-called Kelvin clamphaving the typical kinematic support structure may be employed. Herein,in the case when the total number of the degrees of freedom (the numberof axes along which an object is freely movable)) and the number ofphysical constraint conditions that a support structure has is six, sucha support structure is kinematic. This is the same as a state in whichthe imposed physical constraints are independent (have no redundancy).

As an example of such a set of three vertical pin units, as shown inFIG. 13, a set of the following movement pin units can be given: a firstvertical movement pin unit 334 a including a bar-shaped spring member371 a that extends in a vertical direction, and has an upper end portionprovided with an adsorption section 68 (such as the pin head in theembodiment described above) and a lower end portion fixed to a basemember 396 that is vertically movable; a second vertical movement pinunit 334 b including a plate spring member 371 b that has an upper endportion provided with an adsorption section 68 and a lower end portionfixed to base member 396; and a third vertical movement pin unit 334 cincluding a bar-shaped member 371 c that has an upper end provided withan adsorption section 68 via a ball joint and a lower end fixed to basemember 396. Herein, the normal direction (thin-wall direction) of thesurface of plate spring member 371 b is assumed to be parallel to theY-axis, a direction connecting bar-shaped member 371 c and plate springmember 371 b is assumed to be parallel to the Y-axis. Incidentally, inthis example, the lower end portion of bar-shaped spring member 371 aserving as a displacement section, the lower end portion of plate springmember 371 b as a displacement section, and the lower end portion ofbar-shaped member 371 c bear the respective lower ends of verticalmovement pin units 334 a, 334 b and 334 c.

In this case, in the first vertical movement pin unit 334 a, onlymovement of adsorption section 68 in the Z-axis direction is constrained(the movement in the remaining five degrees of freedom is permitted), inthe second vertical movement pin unit 334 b, movement of adsorptionsection 68 in two axial directions (the Z-axis direction and the Y-axisdirection) and rotation around the Y-axis (the θy rotation) areconstrained (the movement in the X-axis direction, and the θy rotationand the θz rotation are permitted) , and in the third vertical movementpin unit 334 c, only movement of adsorption section 68 in threeorthogonal directions (the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis directions) isconstrained (the θx, θy and θz rotations are permitted). However, in thecase of adsorbing and holding a wafer with vertical movement pin units334 a to 334 c, the position of the wafer in the three orthogonaldirections is constrained by adsorption section 68 of the third verticalmovement pin unit 334 c, the rotation around the Y-axis (the θyrotation) and the rotation around the Z-axis (the θz rotation) arefurther constrained by adsorption section 68 of the second verticalmovement pin unit 334 b, and the rotation around the X-axis (the θxrotation) is further constrained by adsorption section 68 of the thirdvertical movement pin unit 334 c.

Incidentally, while in the embodiment and modified examples describedabove (hereinafter, referred to as “the embodiment and the likedescribed above”), all of three or six vertical movement pin units aredisplaced in at least one axis direction by the action of the force fromthe wafer, in a state of adsorbing and holding the wafer, theconfiguration is not limited thereto. That is, as long as the freechange in shape of the wafer is not hindered, such a configuration maybe employed that only some of the three or six vertical movement pinunits are displaced by the action of the force from the wafer.

Incidentally, while in the embodiment and the like described above, thecase has been described in which the exposure apparatus is a dry-typeexposure apparatus that performs exposure of wafer W not via liquid(water), the type of the exposure apparatus is not limited thereto, andthe embodiment and the like described above can also be applied to anexposure apparatus in which a liquid immersion space including anoptical path of illumination light is formed between a projectionoptical system and a wafer and the wafer is exposed with theillumination light via the projection optical system and liquid of theliquid immersion space, as is disclosed in, for example, EP PatentApplication Publication No. 1 420 298, PCT International Publication No.2004/055803, U.S. Pat. No. 6,952,253 and the like.

Further, when wafer W is loaded onto wafer holder WH, the surface of rimsection 28 and/or the surfaces of the plurality of pin sections 32 ofwafer holder WH can be coated with a low frictional material (e.g., DLC(Diamond-like Carbon) and the like), in order to reduce the distortionthat occurs in the wafer.

Further, while in the embodiment and the like described above, the casehas been described in which the exposure apparatus is a scanning-typeexposure apparatus of a step-and-scan method or the like, the exposureapparatus is not limited thereto, and a static-type exposure apparatussuch as a stepper may be employed. Further, the embodiment describedabove can also be applied to a reduction projection exposure apparatusof a step-and-stick method in which a shot area and a shot area aresynthesized, an exposure apparatus of a proximity method or a mirrorprojection aligner, or the like.

Further, the embodiment and the like described above can also be appliedto a twin-stage-type exposure apparatus. The structure and the exposureoperation of the twin-stage-type exposure apparatus are disclosed in,for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,007, U.S. Pat. No. 6,400,441, U.S. Pat.No. 6,549,269, U.S. Pat. No. 6,590,634, U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441 and U.S.Pat. No. 6,208,407, and the like. Further, the projection optical systemin the exposure apparatus of the embodiment and the like described aboveis not limited to a reduction system but may be either of an equalmagnifying system or a minifying system, and projection optical systemPL is not limited a dioptric system but may be either of a catoptricsystem or a catadioptric system, and its projected image may be eitherof an inverted image or an erected image. Further, while theillumination area and the exposure area described previously each have arectangular shape, the shapes are not limited thereto, and they mayhave, for example, an circular arc shape, a trapezoidal shape or aparallelogram shape, or the like.

Incidentally, the light source of the exposure apparatus of theembodiment and the like described above is not limited to the ArFexcimer laser, but a pulsed laser light source such as a KrF excimerlaser (output wavelength: 248 nm), an F₂ laser (output wavelength: 157nm), an Ar₂ laser (output wavelength: 126 nm) or a Kr₂ laser (outputwavelength: 146 nm), or an extra-high pressure mercury lamp thatgenerates an emission line such as a g-line (wavelength: 436 nm) or ani-line (wavelength: 365 nm), or the like can also be used. Further, aharmonic wave generating device of a YAG laser or the like can also beused. Besides, for example, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,023,610,a harmonic wave, which is obtained by amplifying a single-wavelengthlaser beam in the infrared or visible range emitted by a DFBsemiconductor laser or a fiber laser as vacuum ultraviolet light, with afiber amplifier doped with, for example, erbium (or both erbium andytterbium), and by converting the wavelength into ultraviolet lightusing a nonlinear optical crystal, may also be used.

Further, in the embodiment and the like described above, illuminationlight IL of the exposure apparatus is not limited to the light having awavelength equal to or more than 100 nm, and it is needless to say thatthe light having a wavelength less than 100 nm may be used. For example,the embodiment described above can be applied to an EUV (ExtremeUltraviolet) exposure apparatus that uses an EUV light in a soft X-rayrange (e.g., a wavelength range from 5 to 15 nm). In addition, theembodiment and the like described above can also be applied to anexposure apparatus that uses charged particle beams such as an electronbeam or an ion beam.

Moreover, for example, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,316, theembodiment and the like described above can also be applied to anexposure apparatus that synthesizes two reticle patterns on a wafer viaa projection optical system and almost simultaneously performs doubleexposure of one shot area on the wafer by one scanning exposure.

Incidentally, in the embodiment and the like described above, an objecton which a pattern is to be formed (an object subject to exposure towhich an energy beam is irradiated) is not limited to a wafer, but maybe another object such as a glass plate, a ceramic substrate, a filmmember, or a mask blank.

The use of the exposure apparatus is not limited to the exposureapparatus used for manufacturing semiconductor devices. The embodimentand the like described above can be widely applied also to, for example,an exposure apparatus for manufacturing liquid crystal display deviceswhich transfers a liquid crystal display device pattern onto asquare-shaped glass plate, and to an exposure apparatus formanufacturing organic EL, thin-film magnetic heads, imaging devices(such as CCDs), micromachines, DNA chips and the like. Further, theembodiment and the like described above can also be applied to anexposure apparatus that transfers a circuit pattern onto a glasssubstrate or a silicon wafer not only when producing microdevices suchas semiconductor devices, but also when producing a reticle or a maskused in an exposure apparatus such as an optical exposure apparatus, anEUV exposure apparatus, an X-ray exposure apparatus, and an electronbeam exposure apparatus.

Electronic devices such as semiconductor devices are manufacturedthrough the steps such as: a step in which the function/performancedesign of a device is performed; a step in which a reticle based on thedesign step is manufactured; a step in which a wafer is manufacturedusing a silicon material; a lithography step in which a pattern of amask (the reticle) is transferred onto the wafer with the exposureapparatus (a pattern forming apparatus) of the embodiment and the likedescribed above and the exposure method thereof; a development step inwhich the wafer that has been exposed is developed; an etching step inwhich an exposed member of the other section than a section where resistremains is removed by etching; a resist removal step in which the resistthat is no longer necessary when etching is completed is removed; adevice assembly step (including a dicing process, a bonding process, anda packaging process); and an inspection step. In this case, in thelithography step, the exposure method described previously isimplemented using the exposure apparatus of the embodiment and the likedescribed above and a device pattern is formed on the wafer, andtherefore, the devices with a high integration degree can bemanufactured with high productivity.

Incidentally, the disclosures of all the publications, the PCTInternational Publications, the European Patent ApplicationPublications, the U.S. Patent Application Publications and the U.S.Patents that are cited in the description so far and are related toexposure apparatuses and the like are each incorporated herein byreference.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

34 ₁, 34 ₂, 34 ₃ . . . vertical movement pin units, 68 . . . adsorptionsection, 67 ₁ to 67 ₃ . . . flexible tubes, 68 ₁ to 68 ₃ . . . pinheads, 96 . . . main body unit, 71 . . . plate spring, 100_exposureapparatus, 371 a . . . bar-shaped spring member, 371 b . . . platespring member, 371 c . . . bar-shaped member, light, IL . . .illumination light, IOP . . . illumination system, PL . . . projectionoptical system, PU . . . projection unit, W . . . wafer, WST . . . waferstage, WMS . . . wafer holding area, WH . . . wafer holder.

1. A substrate holding device that holds a substrate, the devicecomprising: a substrate holding section on which the substrate isadsorbed and held; and a plurality of movable members that each have anadsorption section to adsorb a rear surface of the substrate, at oneend, the plurality of movable members being movable relative to thesubstrate holding section in a state of adsorbing the rear surface ofthe substrate with the adsorption sections, wherein at least one movablemember of the plurality of movable members has at least part that isdisplaced in at least one direction, by an action of a force receivedfrom the adsorbed substrate, the at least part including the adsorptionsection.
 2. A substrate holding device that holds a substrate, thedevice comprising: a substrate holding section on which the substrate isadsorbed and held; and a plurality of movable members that each have oneend including an adsorption section to adsorb a rear surface of thesubstrate and the other end on an opposite side to the one end, theplurality of movable members being each movable relative to thesubstrate holding section in a state of adsorbing the rear surface ofthe substrate with the one end, wherein at least one movable member ofthe plurality of movable members is provided with a displacement sectionthat is disposed between the one end and the other end and is displacedin at least one direction by an action of a force received from thesubstrate.
 3. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, whereinat least three of the movable members are provided.
 4. The substrateholding device according to claim 3, wherein each of the at least threemovable members has at least part including the adsorption section thatis displaced by the action of the force, and the at least part of the atleast one movable member is displaced in a direction different from adirection in which the at least part of another movable members isdisplaced.
 5. The substrate holding device according to claim 4, whereinat least respective parts of the plurality of movable members aredisplaced in directions different from each other by the action of theforce, the at least respective parts each including the adsorptionsection.
 6. The substrate holding device according to claim 1, whereinthe respective movable members are disposed at positions of vertices ofa regular polygon in a substrate holding area of the substrate holdingsection.
 7. The substrate holding device according to claim 6, whereinat least part of each of the movable members is displaced in a radialdirection of a circumcircle of the regular polygon by the action of theforce, the at least part including the adsorption section.
 8. Thesubstrate holding device according to claim 7, wherein three of themovable members are provided.
 9. The substrate holding device accordingto claim 7, wherein six of the movable members are provided, and of thesix movable members, each of three movable members that are not adjacentto each other has at least part including the adsorption section that isdisplaced in a radial direction of the circumcircle by the action of theforce, and each of the remaining three movable members has at least partincluding the adsorption section that is displaced in at least theradial direction and a tangential direction of the circumcircle.
 10. Thesubstrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein in the movablemember that has at least part including the adsorption section displacedby the action of the force, the at least part is further turned aroundan axis that is orthogonal to an axis in a direction in which the atleast part is displaced, by the action of the force.
 11. The substrateholding device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of movablemembers each have at least part that is displaced by receiving theaction of the force, the at least part including the adsorption section,and a direction in which the at least part including the adsorptionsection is displaced is a direction for moving away from a center of asubstrate holding area of the substrate holding section or a directionfor moving closer to the center.
 12. The substrate holding deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a base member to which theother end of each of the plurality of movable members is fixed, andwhich moves integrally with the plurality of movable members, whereinthe movable member having at least part including the adsorption sectionthat is displaced by the action of the force includes the adsorptionsection, a spring member that has one end portion provided with theadsorption section and the other end portion fixed to the base member,and an annular member that is bendable freely and surrounds the springmember entirely along a longitudinal direction of the spring member. 13.The substrate holding device according to claim 8, further comprising: abase member to which the other end of each of the three movable membersis fixed, and which moves integrally with the three movable members,wherein the three movable members each include (i) a bar-shaped springmember having one end portion provided with the adsorption section andthe other end portion fixed to the base member, (ii) a plate springmember having one end portion provided with the adsorption section andthe other end portion fixed to the base member, and (iii) a bar-shapedmember having one end portion provided with the adsorption section thatis displaceable and the other end portion fixed to the base member. 14.The substrate holding device according to claim 1, wherein the at leastpart that includes the adsorption section adsorbing the substrate isdisplaced in the at least one direction so that a change in shape of thesubstrate is not prevented, the change in shape occurring when thesubstrate is mounted on a substrate holding area of the substrateholding section.
 15. An exposure apparatus that exposes a substrate withan energy beam, the apparatus comprising: the substrate holding deviceaccording to claim 1, that holds the substrate on the substrate holdingsection; and a pattern generating device that generates a pattern on thesubstrate by exposing the substrate with the energy beam.
 16. A devicemanufacturing method, including: exposing a substrate using the exposureapparatus according to claim 15; and developing the substrate that hasbeen exposed.
 17. The substrate holding device according to claim 2,wherein at least three of the movable members are provided.
 18. Thesubstrate holding device according to claim 17, wherein each of the atleast three movable members has at least part including the adsorptionsection that is displaced by the action of the force, and at least partof the at least one movable member is displaced in a direction differentfrom a direction in which the at least part of another movable membersis displaced.
 19. The substrate holding device according to claim 18,wherein at least respective parts of the plurality of movable membersare displaced in directions different from each other by the action ofthe force, the at least respective parts each including the adsorptionsection.
 20. The substrate holding device according to claim 2, whereinthe respective movable members are disposed at positions of vertices ofa regular polygon in a substrate holding area of the substrate holdingsection.
 21. The substrate holding device according to claim 20, whereinat least part of each of the movable members is displaced in a radialdirection of a circumcircle of the regular polygon by the action of theforce, the at least part including the adsorption section.
 22. Thesubstrate holding device according to claim 21, wherein three of themovable members are provided
 23. The substrate holding device accordingto claim 21, wherein six of the movable members are provided, and of thesix movable members, each of three movable members that are not adjacentto each other has at least part including the adsorption section that isdisplaced in a radial direction of the circumcircle by the action of theforce, and each of the remaining three movable members has at least partincluding the adsorption section that is displaced in at least theradial direction and a tangential direction of the circumcircle.
 24. Thesubstrate holding device according to claim 2, wherein in the movablemember that has at least part including the adsorption section displacedby the action of the force, the at least part is further turned aroundan axis that is orthogonal to an axis in a direction in which the atleast part is displaced, by the action of the force.
 25. The substrateholding device according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of movablemembers each have at least part that is displaced by receiving theaction of the force, the at least part including the adsorption section,and a direction in which the at least part including the adsorptionsection is displaced is a direction for moving away from a center of asubstrate holding area of the substrate holding section or a directionfor moving closer to the center.
 26. The substrate holding deviceaccording to claim 2, further comprising: a base member to which theother end of each of the plurality of movable members is fixed, andwhich moves integrally with the plurality of movable members, whereinthe movable member having at least part including the adsorption sectionthat is displaced by the action of the force includes the adsorptionsection, a spring member that has one end portion provided with theadsorption section and the other end portion fixed to the base member,and an annular member that is bendable freely and surrounds the springmember entirely along a longitudinal direction of the spring member. 27.The substrate holding device according to claim 22, further comprising:a base member to which the other end of each of the three movablemembers is fixed, and which moves integrally with the three movablemembers, wherein the three movable members each include (i) a bar-shapedspring member having one end portion provided with the adsorptionsection and the other end portion fixed to the base member, (ii) a platespring member having one end portion provided with the adsorptionsection and the other end portion fixed to the base member, and (iii) abar-shaped member having one end portion provided with the adsorptionsection that is displaceable and the other end portion fixed to the basemember.
 28. The substrate holding device according to claim 2, whereinthe at least part that includes the adsorption section adsorbing thesubstrate is displaced in the at least one direction so that a change inshape of the substrate is not prevented, the change in shape occurringwhen the substrate is mounted on a substrate holding area of thesubstrate holding section.
 29. An exposure apparatus that exposes asubstrate with an energy beam, the apparatus comprising: the substrateholding device according to claim 2, that holds the substrate on thesubstrate holding section; and a pattern generating device thatgenerates a pattern on the substrate by exposing the substrate with theenergy beam.
 30. A device manufacturing method, including: exposing asubstrate using the exposure apparatus according to claim 29; anddeveloping the substrate that has been exposed.